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Re: Canadian English!!!

Re: Canadian English!!!

It's a big country and, like America, it has dozens of dialect variations. People who live in Eastern Canada and Western Canada do not share the same Canadian "accent". The same holds true for America, right? People who live near the Canadian-American border might share a similar speech pattern; that is, the Americans probably sound Canadian, or is it that We sound American? Mind you, you can pick 'em out quite easily 'cause Canadians say, "Eh?" and Americans say, "Huh?" TV is also a major influence; children these days watch more TV than they did in the past; the days when mother was the primary language and care giver are over; TV has taken that role; it and the 300 or so "American-accented" channels it has to offer. It's not quite that easy to tell the difference between a Western Canadian actor and an American actor. Western Canadian actors sound slightly different - psst, isn't Brad Pitt from B.C.?; Eastern Canadian actors sound very different, though. They have the "oo" thing going; you know, "aboot" <about>.

Again, "accent" is the thing. Grammar, syntax, and vocabulary are on par with, if not equal to, our American cousins'.

Is there a difference between American English and Canadian English? All one has to do it watch the National News at 6 p.m., ahem, in both countries.

I need help! Thank you

I just want to ask some help. I'll be working in Canada as a service crew. I'm not familiar with their accent. Can you please give me some tips on how to understand them and be confident talking to them. Thank you!

Re: Canadian English!!!

Hello everybody,
Considering the vocabulary is there any difference between American English and Canadian English?What about the pronunciation?

Thanks in advance,

Ahhhh....there certainly is a difference. We are of course heavily influenced by our neighbour to the south but in reality Canadian English is a mixture of British English and American English.

We retain a lot of British spelling for example: colour not color, favour not favor.

We say "zed" not "zee"

There are many words that are pronounced differently

We say aBOUt not abOUT for about
We say fuTILE not FUtile
juvenILE not juVENile

Many words are used differently.

In the USA a young person might say he is going to college and end up going to Yale or Harvard. In Canada, we would say that we are going to university...a college is a smaller institution or technical school which can only grant diplomas...not degrees.

In politics the use of the word "liberal" in the USA is a person who is objectionably socialist. It is almost an insult to call someone this. In Canada we have a political party named "Liberals", who, while sometimes left of center on some policies, are certainly pro-big business

Of course there is a lot of Canadian slang that is different from American

I'll have my coffee, double double (two cream/two sugar)
I have two loonies in my pocket. Is that enough money to buy that? (a loonie is a $1 coin, a twoonie is a $2 coin)
I'll bring a 2-4 to the party (a case of 24 beer)

Our language is also influenced by French more than the USA.

We eat poutine sometimes for fast food (Poutine is french fries smoothered with cheese and gravy.)

Re: I need help! Thank you

Originally Posted by champylove

I just want to ask some help. I'll be working in Canada as a service crew. I'm not familiar with their accent. Can you please give me some tips on how to understand them and be confident talking to them. Thank you!

Welcome to the forums.

Never be afraid of saying if you have not understood what someone has said. Ask them to repeat it, more slowly [not more loudly - that does not help]. And when you get to Canada, make it a habit to have the radio or tv on quietly in the background. That way the sound of Canadian voices will become natural.

Re: I need help! Thank you

Originally Posted by champylove

I just want to ask some help. I'll be working in Canada as a service crew. I'm not familiar with their accent. Can you please give me some tips on how to understand them and be confident talking to them. Thank you!

Being a multi-cultural country we are pretty tolerant of all accents. The "Canadian" accent depends on where you are located in the county. There is a definite east coast maritime accent and that from Newfoundland is quite unique if it is hard core. If you end up in Quebec or New Brunswick then of course French is the first language in many places there. But the rest of the country pretty well has the same type of accent.

Our accent is not the same as a British accent though many of the words we use are the same. It is more like a softer American accent. If you can understand an American accent there will be no trouble understanding a Canadian one.

Also, How long will you be in Canada??? If you are immigrating and English is not your first language then there is the LINC program of English language Instruction. This is a free program for new Canadians available throughout Canada, where your English ability is assessed. You are then placed in a program based on your assessed language level for 45 hours of instruction.

The language instruction is quite good and they theme the instruction around living situations in Canada.